It's Canada's 139th birthday today, which is one hell of a coincidence, since that was probably the paid attendance at the game in our nation's capital last night.
Syracuse 10 @ Ottawa 7
Would you believe me if I said Josh Towers started this game? You would? Good, because he surrendered eleven hits in his 6.2 innings. Don't believe Lee Gronkiewicz's two earned runs -- Davis Romero entered with the bases loaded and stranded just one runner in the bottom of the eighth to tie it at 7. That said, Gronk faced three batters: double, single, walk.
Syracuse took the lead for good when Rob Cosby homered in the top of the ninth for the second time, having gone deep with one on in the fourth already. Chad Mottola followed with one of his own (for two of his four RBI) and that was it.
As a Davis Romero booster, I'm not sure how much I like him being used as a short reliever. The Jays have an endless supply of generic left-handed pitchers with the big club, and their current lefty starters consist of one tease and one guy on the DL.
More details on this game can be found courtesy of Bauxite StephenT, who was one of the 139 in attendance.
New Hampshire 5 @ Binghamton 8
Would you believe me if I said David Purcey walked almost a batter per inning? Through 4, the big guy was at 8 hits, 7 runs, 6 earned, three walks and two wild pitches. The F-Cats were down 6-1 early, so this one probably wasn't too interesting. Adam Lind reached base twice -- single, solo home run -- and is now hitting .310. He's going to be a good one, I think...
Dunedin 8 @ Sarasota 9 (12)
I'm guessing there was a rain delay in this one after the fourth inning, since both starters left the game at that point. That also explains why it was still in the ninth at 11:45 last night. Danny Core was the saving grace out of the 'pen for a bit, with two scoreless innings. All good things must end, though, as he gave up the ever-important ninth run in the bottom of the 12th. Bobby Ray started and left after four, as stated earlier, after giving up three runs on seven hits.
Offensively, it was Cory Patton with three RBI, Eric Arnold with two doubles and eight of the nine lineup regulars getting a base hit. Let's not forget Chris Gutierrez, who reached base four times to match basically his entire Dunedin season so far. The teams combined for 33 hits last night, if you're wondering.
Clinton 3 @ Lansing 6
Aaron Tressler scattered eight hits over seven innings, allowing just one earned run. He struck out five as well. The Lugnuts left 12 men on base, surprisingly, but two were driven in by Jason Armstrong. Lansing managed just eight singles, but ten walks. Yes, ten. And, since they scored more runs, they won. I think that's how it works in baseball. Casey McKenzie and Derek Tate provided shutout relief to ensure that inequality in the 'Nuts' favour.
Auburn 6 @ Jamestown 2
I was expecting six or seven shutout innings from the winning pitcher, Ted Serro, on this night after seeing one run scored by the Jammers in each of the first and ninth innings. Of course, this is early in the short season, so some pitchers are still getting stretched out. Combined, the two starters pitched nine innings and Serro contributed 2.2 solid relief innings in his Auburn debut, picking up his first win (obviously) with the D-Days.
A couple of base hits from Brian Hall were pretty much the best output from any one Doubleday. Four runs in the seventh and two in the eighth is when they scored; the former of which saw a long rally (with the required Low-A Ball multiple wild pitches).
Pulaski 3 @ Kingsport 2
You know you're in the low minors when you stop recognizing the names of the cities. In fact, there really isn't much to mention here outside of Joe Wice's first win of the year, coming after 2.2 relief innings (hmm, sounds familiar). I challenge you, faithful reader, to come up with 200 words on this game. The starter (Reidier Gonzalez) didn't go four innings, and there wasn't even a Lee Soto Strikeout Watch.
Three Star Selection:
3. Ted Serro
2. Chad Mottola
1. Rob Cosby
https://www.battersbox.ca/article.php?story=20060630232717139